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Here's what I’m talking about: 36 states have some form of what’s known as “signature match” requirements. What this means is, if you submit a mail-in ballot, those states compare the signature on your ballot with another signature they have from you on record (be it from your absentee ballot application or a voter registration form). But signature comparison is not a science. Even experts in forensic handwriting analysis would have trouble determining if a signature came from the same source if they are only given two samples to compare. And election officials are NOT trained handwriting experts.
Importantly, too, a person’s signature can change from one signing to another for various reasons. For example, one of Campaign Legal Center’s clients, New York resident Carmelina Palmer, has a neurological condition that causes hand tremors. Maria Romo, a client in our North Dakota signature match case, has multiple sclerosis, which affects her handwriting.
Maria and Carmelina have medical reasons that their signatures are inconsistent, but other potential causes abound. Your "signature on file" could be years old (people's signatures change over time) or it may have been scribbled on a small electronic screen with a stylus while standing up at a Motor Vehicle office (a large proportion of voters register while getting their driver's licenses).
I can relate to this: I’ve voted absentee often over the years. During the McCain campaigns, for instance, I was working out of state during election season and needed to submit my ballots via mail. It's quite possible that my signature looked different from time to time. I could have been signing my name in a hurry. Or I could have signed it more carefully and formally than I did at the DMV.
Without proper safeguards, disenfranchisement could happen to virtually anyone living in a state with a flawed signature match policy.
In giving voters the ability to fix problems with their ballots, states vary dramatically in what protections they afford voters. Some states provide immediate notice to voters and allow them to fix any issues. Other states don’t notify voters about signature concerns at all—they just throw the ballot out!
At Campaign Legal Center, we recognize that flawed signature match systems are a key obstacle to successful elections this year. We’re working across the country to address them. So far, the voting rights team at CLC has sued the states of North Dakota, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee over their onerous and unfair verification policies, seeking relief for voters.
We’ve had success. In North Dakota, a federal court suspended the state’s enforcement of its error-prone system, pending improvement. Additionally, the state of New Jersey implemented a process for its July 7 primary election that allowed voters to fix potential issues with their ballots (signature match issues were a predominant reason behind ballot rejections in New Jersey's local special elections in May).
We also just filed a lawsuit in New York. In the 2018 general election, New York had the highest absentee ballot rejection rate in the country, discarding more than 34,000 absentee ballots or about 14% of all absentee ballots cast. With the demand for absentee voting skyrocketing this year due to COVID-19, we’re hopeful we can get relief for New York voters, including our client, Ms. Palmer.
We’re committed to ensuring that this November’s election is accessible to all voters. We’ve created a $1 million Election Defense Fund to equip our legal experts to respond to threats against a free and fair election in November—this includes responding to flawed signature match policies.
This year, it’s critical that states have robust yet fair processes to verify mail-in ballots. If a state decides to keep using a signature match system, it must give voters plenty of notice and an opportunity to fix any ballot issues.
All eligible voters should be able to have confidence that when they vote in an election, their ballot will count. Democracy works best when everyone can participate.
Sincerely,
Trevor Potter
President, Campaign Legal Center
P.S. If you are interested in helping support our Election Defense Fund, you can do so here: With your support, we can protect our democracy this year.
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